Sheridan Downey

Sheridan Downey (11 March 1884-25 October 1961) was a US Senator from California (D) from 3 January 1939 to 30 November 1950 (succeeding Thomas M. Storke and preceding Richard Nixon).

Biography
Sheridan Downey was born in Laramie, Wyoming in 1884, and he became a lawyer in 1907. In 1908, he became district attorney of Albany County as a Republican, and he split Wyoming's vote by supporting Bull Moose Party candidate Theodore Roosevelt during the 1912 presidential election. In 1913, he moved to California, where he worked as a lawyer; in 1932, he switched his party affiliation to the Democratic Party and supported Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1938, he was elected to the US Senate, serving until 1950. Although he had once been a staunch liberal, he became an affiliate of the Conservative Democrats during his time in the Senate, supporting California's major oil interests. He shifted from a liberal New Dealer to a consrevative Democrat during World War II, and he lost re-election to Richard Nixon in 1950. He worked as a lobbyist for Long Beach's oil industry after leaving the US Congress, and he died in 1961.